Finally, it's almost over. More war and fighting breaks out in the last Hunger Games movie, with Katniss leading the battle, blah, blah, blah. Nothing looks very interesting about this, it's all just come to a tired and overlong end. Good. It is kind of funny how Jennifer Lawrence almost has to bend over to hug Josh Hutcherson though- why on earth did they ever cast a guy who's like three feet shorter than her as her love interest?
Movie of the Day: "Splash" (1984)
Tom Hanks's first hit movie was this adorable romantic comedy that's every bit as much fun today as it was back in the early 80's. Daryl Hannah is a mermaid who washes up onshore to track down Hanks's Allen Bauer, whom she believes is her true soulmate, and a literal fish out of water story progresses as she learns English, goes shopping, watches TV, goes ice skating and gets used to life in New York City. Eugene Levy is the government scientist charged with capturing her, but the appeal of this film comes strictly from the chemistry between Hanks and Hannah, and the scene stealing antics of John Candy and Levy in comedic support. Everyone is great in this movie, they all play their parts to the tee and that's why it still holds up today. If they were to make this movie now they'd probably think they needed an explanation or more examination of how mermaids can actually exist, but a fantasy premise like this really doesn't need it- she's a mermaid, she's here and you have to accept it. So simple that it works like a charm.
Original 1984 Trailer:
Chris Evans Makes His Directorial Debut With 'Before We Go'
Captain America is branching out, as Chris Evans takes the helm for this romantic drama, coming out September 4th. It's very obviously inspired by Before Sunrise, as two people meet by accident and spend a whole night together that changes everything, but I gotta say, I'm actually not that impressed by the acting in this trailer. Alice Eve doesn't seem to have a great screen presence and I don't see much spark between these two at all. I know you can't tell everything from the trailer, but when it stands out as lacking something just from the clipped scenes that could be a bad sign.
James Bond Travels to Mexico in New 'Spectre' Trailer
This looks pretty solid, but a couple of things I noticed right off the bat- 1) Roger Deakins' cinematography for Skyfall really added to the look of that movie that this one just doesn't have and it's immediately obvious, and 2) this is the first Bond film without Judi Dench in 20 years, and it's kind of funny that that's also immediately notable. Otherwise it looks like what you'd expect- there aren't normally two good Bond movies in a row, but hopefully with Sam Mendes back to direct, this one will break the mold.
Movie of the Day: "A Streetcar Named Desire" (1951)
Our next summer movie is this 1951 classic from Elia Kazan, featuring some of the all time greatest acting from all four of its leads (three of whom won Oscars for their roles), but particularly Marlon Brando and Vivien Leigh, who tower over everything, and nearly burn up the screen doing it. This is the movie that gave the world Brando of course, as the brutish Stanley Kowalski, a violent depiction of masculinity that both scares and excites his wife Stella (Kim Hunter), and threatens her sister Blanche Dubois (Leigh). Brando debuts his method acting style, which soon took over the world and became the new way of performing, and he's sensational in the part, but Vivien Leigh is every bit his equal as the desperate and abused Blanche, who falls victim to yet another man who mistreats her. The movie takes place in a hot, sweaty, claustrophobic tenement in New Orleans, where the characters are constantly forced to interact, with ultimately tragic consequences, as with most Tennessee Williams plays. This is a classic for a reason, and the one who didn't win that coveted Oscar for his role here? Funnily enough, it was Brando, the man who revolutionized film acting. How's that for irony?
Original 1951 Trailer:
BBC Names the 100 Greatest American Films
Everybody loves lists like these, right? Every time a new one comes out people like to parse it and argue it and yell at each other over what should and shouldn't have made the cut. But it's kind of fun anyway, to see what various organizations have come up with, and the BBC is no insignificant group, right? I don't know why they wanted to do only American films, but according to their poll, these are the one hundred greatest purely American movies ever made, and they've got some interesting new choices. Lots of love for David Lynch, as Blue Velvet and Mulholland Dr. came in extremely high here, higher than I've ever seen them on any other list like this. But not a single Coen Brothers movie- no Fargo? Really? I honestly don't know that The Dark Knight (much as I love it) deserves to be here over something like Fargo. And I'm sorry, but...The Lion King is the only Disney movie to make the cut? If you're going to choose a Renaissance era Disney movie (or any, come to think of it), who in their right mind would pick Lion King over Beauty and the Beast?
100. Ace in the Hole (Billy Wilder, 1951)
99. 12 Years a Slave (Steve McQueen, 2013)
98. Heaven’s Gate (Michael Cimino, 1980)
97. Gone With the Wind (Victor Fleming, 1939)
96. The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan, 2008)
95. Duck Soup (Leo McCarey, 1933)
94. 25th Hour (Spike Lee, 2002)
93. Mean Streets (Martin Scorsese, 1973)
92. The Night of the Hunter (Charles Laughton, 1955)
91. ET: The Extra-Terrestrial (Steven Spielberg, 1982)
90. Apocalypse Now (Francis Ford Coppola, 1979)
89. In a Lonely Place (Nicholas Ray, 1950)
88. West Side Story (Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins, 1961)
87. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry, 2004)
86. The Lion King (Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff, 1994)
85. Night of the Living Dead (George A Romero, 1968)
84. Deliverance (John Boorman, 1972)
83. Bringing Up Baby (Howard Hawks, 1938)
82. Raiders of the Lost Ark (Steven Spielberg, 1981)
81. Thelma & Louise (Ridley Scott, 1991)
80. Meet Me in St Louis (Vincente Minnelli, 1944)
79. The Tree of Life (Terrence Malick, 2011)
78. Schindler’s List (Steven Spielberg, 1993)
77. Stagecoach (John Ford, 1939)
76. The Empire Strikes Back (Irvin Kershner, 1980)
75. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Steven Spielberg, 1977)
74. Forrest Gump (Robert Zemeckis, 1994)
73. Network (Sidney Lumet, 1976)
72. The Shanghai Gesture (Josef von Sternberg, 1941)
71. Groundhog Day (Harold Ramis, 1993)
70. The Band Wagon (Vincente Minnelli, 1953)
69. Koyaanisqatsi (Godfrey Reggio, 1982)
68. Notorious (Alfred Hitchcock, 1946)
67. Modern Times (Charlie Chaplin, 1936)
66. Red River (Howard Hawks, 1948)
65. The Right Stuff (Philip Kaufman, 1965)
64. Johnny Guitar (Nicholas Ray, 1954)
63. Love Streams (John Cassavetes, 1984)
62. The Shining (Stanley Kubrick, 1980)
61. Eyes Wide Shut (Stanley Kubrick, 1999)
60. Blue Velvet (David Lynch, 1986)
59. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (Miloš Forman, 1975)
58. The Shop Around the Corner (Ernst Lubitsch, 1940)
57. Crimes and Misdemeanors (Woody Allen, 1989)
56. Back to the Future (Robert Zemeckis, 1985)
55. The Graduate (Mike Nichols, 1967)
54. Sunset Boulevard (Billy Wilder, 1950)
53. Grey Gardens (Albert and David Maysles, Ellen Hovde and Muffie Meyer, 1975)
52. The Wild Bunch (Sam Peckinpah, 1969)
51. Touch of Evil (Orson Welles, 1958)
50. His Girl Friday (Howard Hawks, 1940)
49. Days of Heaven (Terrence Malick, 1978)
48. A Place in the Sun (George Stevens, 1951)
47. Marnie (Alfred Hitchcock, 1964)
46. It’s a Wonderful Life (Frank Capra, 1946)
45. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (John Ford, 1962)
44. Sherlock Jr (Buster Keaton, 1924)
43. Letter from an Unknown Woman (Max Ophüls, 1948)
42. Dr Strangelove (Stanley Kubrick, 1964)
41. Rio Bravo (Howard Hawks, 1959)
40. Meshes of the Afternoon (Maya Deren and Alexander Hammid, 1943)
39. The Birth of a Nation (DW Griffith, 1915)
38. Jaws (Steven Spielberg, 1975)
37. Imitation of Life (Douglas Sirk, 1959)
36. Star Wars (George Lucas, 1977)
35. Double Indemnity (Billy Wilder, 1944)
34. The Wizard of Oz (Victor Fleming, 1939)
33. The Conversation (Francis Ford Coppola, 1974)
32. The Lady Eve (Preston Sturges, 1941)
31. A Woman Under the Influence (John Cassavetes, 1974)
30. Some Like It Hot (Billy Wilder, 1959)
29. Raging Bull (Martin Scorsese, 1980)
28. Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994)
27. Barry Lyndon (Stanley Kubrick, 1975)
26. Killer of Sheep (Charles Burnett, 1978)
25. Do the Right Thing (Spike Lee, 1989)
24. The Apartment (Billy Wilder, 1960)
23. Annie Hall (Woody Allen, 1977)
22. Greed (Erich von Stroheim, 1924)
21. Mulholland Drive (David Lynch, 2001)
20. Goodfellas (Martin Scorsese, 1990)
19. Taxi Driver (Martin Scorsese, 1976)
18. City Lights (Charlie Chaplin, 1931)
17. The Gold Rush (Charlie Chaplin, 1925)
16. McCabe & Mrs Miller (Robert Altman, 1971)
15. The Best Years of Our Lives (William Wyler, 1946)
14. Nashville (Robert Altman, 1975)
13. North by Northwest (Alfred Hitchcock, 1959)
12. Chinatown (Roman Polanski, 1974)
11. The Magnificent Ambersons (Orson Welles, 1942)
10. The Godfather Part II (Francis Ford Coppola, 1974)
9. Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942)
8. Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)
7. Singin’ in the Rain (Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly, 1952)
6. Sunrise (FW Murnau, 1927)
5. The Searchers (John Ford, 1956)
4. 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968)
3. Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock, 1958)
2. The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972)
1. Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, 1941)
Sp there you have it. There are some eclectic choices and a lot of new movies overall, but they were too chicken to change the top two from anything other than The Godfather/Citizen Kane, which have dominated the title of "Greatest American Movie" for decades now. Not that I disagree with it, but I'm not sure that a consensus should form on what absolutely HAS to be number one on any of these lists, no matter who's choosing. What do you guys think of the choices?
Dinosaurs and Humans Roam the Earth in First Trailer for 'The Good Dinosaur'
Eh- not too sure about this one. Pixar's new movie says the meteor that wiped out the dinosaurs happened to miss the planet, so dinosaurs and man ended up co-existing, but the plot of this movie essentially looks like another Ice Age, as a nice dino befriends a little human boy. I assume he's helping him get back to his people, right? That's what it looks like anyway. Yeah, not too original. It comes out at Thanksgiving, but my guess is this is no threat to Inside Out in the Oscar race for Animated Feature.
Movie of the Day: "Dazed and Confused" (1993)
It's time for summer movies, everybody! I'm starting off with one of my very favorites, and one that I can't quite believe I haven't recommended yet, but apparently I've been saving it. Dazed and Confused is director Richard Linklater's best film, in my opinion, even if it is an attempt at American Graffiti set in another era. You know what? If you can capture your own era just as well as Graffiti did it's worth doing, because this is just as much a perfect representation of the mid-70's as that other film was for the early 60's. It's authentic, natural, funny and it feels like you've been dropped right in the middle of the action, on the last day of school in 1976, at the start of the bicentennial summer. The cast is a who's who of people who became stars later, most famously Matthew McConaughey as the iconic Wooderson (yep- this is the movie where he coined his "all right, all right, all right" catchphrase), but also Ben Affleck, Renee Zellweger, Parker Posey, Milla Jovovich and Jason London. It's a trip through time right back to the 1970's and catches the time and place in a way only someone who lived through it could. For me it's Linklater's signature work.
Original 1993 Trailer:
More Craziness Seizes Jesse Eisenberg in New 'American Ultra' Trailer
Another look at American Ultra, coming out August 21st, as Jesse Eisenberg is secretly activated as some kind of super assassin. It still looks like it could be funny, in a Pineapple Express kind of way (there's an awful lot of blowing stuff up in this trailer):
BOX OFFICE 7/17-7/19: 'Ant-Man' Comes in First; 'Trainwreck' Debuts at No. 3
Marvel's Ant-Man came in at the top of the charts this week, with a $58 million dollar debut, which is good, but not as big as any of Marvel's other films. It's not surprising considering the lesser known property, but it's somewhat close to the debuts of Captain America and Thor, both of which came in in the mid-60's range. Either way, the studio is 12 for 12 in terms of their films opening in first place at the box office, which is quite remarkable. The weekend's other new release, Trainwreck, came in third place after Minions, but with a very impressive $30 million, which serves as a nice big welcome to Hollywood for Amy Schumer, who I guess I underestimated the appeal of. It was well-reviewed and is director Judd Apatow's biggest opening since 2007's Knocked Up, and is in fact in line with the opening of Melissa McCarthy's Spy, which has earned over $100 million. This could well duplicate that film's success, which would be incredibly strong for a romantic comedy, a genre that's been just starved for a the box office in recent years.
Last week's champ Minions took in another $50 million, which is a fairly steep 57% fall from last weekend, while Inside Out stayed just a nudge ahead of Jurassic World for fourth place, crossing $300 million total for Pixar. Meanwhile, Jurassic World has now crossed the $600 million milestone, making it only the fourth film in history to earn that much money domestically. I still don't know how it happened, but it's going to be interesting to see if Star Wars can duplicate those numbers come Christmastime.
Top 5:
- Ant-Man- $58 million
- Minions- $50 million
- Trainwreck- $30 million
- Inside Out- $11.6 million
- Jurassic World- $11.4 million
In limited release, we finally have a story worth commenting on, as Ian McKellan's Mr. Holmes debuted with a fantastic $2.4 million, managing to crack the top ten from just 363 theaters. I suppose it's not surprising that Sir Ian could attract older audiences playing a 99-year-old version of Sherlock Holmes- perhaps he can turn that success into potential Best Actor Oscar buzz at year's end as well. Next week it's Pixels versus Paper Towns for the new releases, both of which are expected to do very well, so we'll see what happens then. See you later everyone!
New X-Men Pics Reveal Psylocke, Apocalypse
EW once again has the exclusive first set photos from next summer's X-Men movie, and Apocalypse looks a little...cartoony? Like a Power Rangers villain? Yeah, it's kind of weird. But actually Psylocke's cut up bathing suit look is also a little nutty. Aside from the questionable costumes here, I'm most annoyed by the news that Jennifer Lawrence has essentially ditched the blue makeup entirely and will be walking around as herself for the whole film. I'm sorry, but what's the point of that? If she's not going to bother to be Mystique (who's lame in these movies anyway), why the pretense? Why not just have her show up and literally play herself as a famous walk-on- hey look, it's Jennifer Lawrence time traveling into the 1980's and deciding to be a part of Professor X's mutant team. It may as well be the case at this point. New characters from the bottom up are young Nightcrawler, Jubilee (finally making her long awaited debut in the movies), and young Storm with a snazzy mohawk look.
Leo Dicaprio Battles a Bear in Trailer for 'The Revenant'
Now this is quite a trailer. The new film from Alejandro Inarritu, who just won the Oscar for Birdman, looks to boast some more incredible cinematography (which I can tell is going to be the real star of this movie) from Emmanuel Lubezci (also a newly-minted 2-time winner). Might already be three times the charm for Chivo, here from the looks of it. The Revenant is based on a novel and coming out in December- expect it to be a major Oscar player.
